‘Savage and cruel’ killing of trans woman sparks outrage in Colombia: ‘Let anger mobilise us’
Sara Millerey was murdered in Colombia (Sara Millerey’s Facebook account)
Sara Millerey was murdered in Colombia (Sara Millerey's Facebook account)
The violent death of trans woman Sara Millerey González has sparked outrage in Colombia, with president Gustavo Petro calling her brutal killing an act of “fascism”.
Sara Millerey González, a 32-year-old trans woman and activist living in Bello, a city in the northwest of Colombia, was killed during the first weekend of April.
Local reports detail that on April 4 she was raped and her legs and arms were broken before she was thrown into the La García stream.
Reports also suggest her final moments struggling in the water were filmed by neighbours and passers-by, with clips shared on social media in subsequent days.
According to authorities, Sara Millerey was rescued from the water by firefighters and police and transported to the nearest hospital, but died due to her injuries on April 5.
On his X account, president Petro described Millerey’s killing as “facism”: “I’m criticized for speaking about Nazism. I know perfectly well that fascism is the violent elimination of human differences: political, religious, ethnic, sexual freedom. What happened in Bello is called fascism, because there are Nazis in Colombia.”
Lorena González Ospina, mayor of Bello, said on social media she was raising her voice to “strongly condemn the murder of Sara Millerey”, describing her killing as an “horrific, hate-filled act”.
“Sara was brutally attacked, her arms and legs were broken, and her body was thrown into the river. And it is deeply painful to think this happened amid the indifference of so many. We cannot allow transphobia to keep taking lives in silence,” Ospina said.
“We, as a city and as a local government, have a responsibility to the LGBTIQ+ community. And today, from the bottom of my heart, I say we cannot remain silent.
“We will demand justice for Sara, and we will continue working toward a city where all lives are treated with dignity and respect. Transphobia kills. No more indifference, and no more silence.”
Ospina has captioned her Instagram posts about her murder with the hashtag ‘#JusticiaParaSaraMillerey’.
A reward of 50 million Colombian pesos ($11,000) is being offered to anyone who can bring forward information that leads to the capture of those responsible.
“As soon as we learned of the events surrounding Sara’s murder, we activated a special action plan together with the National Police to address this case with urgency,” Ospina said in a separate video posted to Instagram.
“We have already informed the Prosecutor’s Office about this horrific crime and are gathering all the necessary evidence to formally hand over and move the investigation forward. I call on the relevant authorities to act as swiftly as possible. Sara deserves justice. This cannot be another case that goes unpunished. We will not rest until there is justice.”
In a statement, LGBTQ+ organisation Caribe Afirmativo said Sara Millerey’s murder was not an isolated incident but “a symptom. A mirror. A cry that no one wants to hear”.
“This isn’t just a crime. It’s a sick reflection of a society that has lost its soul. It’s the face of a country that allows its trans daughters to die in front of everyone and no one does anything.
“Because it’s not just about the atrocious act itself, but about everything that surrounds it: the silence, the indifference, the systematic neglect. What was done to Sara didn’t begin the day of her murder. It began when she was denied decent employment. When she was treated as an object of ridicule on the street. When she wasn’t recognised as a woman in an institution. When she had to defend her existence, day after day, with no one to defend her. The murder was just the end of a constant violence.”
“Let anger mobilise us”
The group went on to say that in the wake of Millerey’s death those outraged should “let anger mobilise us”: “It should make us uncomfortable. It should ache in our guts. It should fill us with rage. But not a blind rage, but one that organises, mobilises, and transforms.
“Because pronouncements are no longer enough. Minutes of silence are no longer enough. We need a political, ethical, and collective response. One that requires a demand for justice, but also a profound transformation of the social fabric.”
“That’s why we insist: it’s not enough to be outraged once a year. It’s not enough to share a hashtag. We need a politics of life, of active mourning, of trans justice. We need to talk, name them, remember them, defend them,” the statement continued.
“But we still have time to do something now. So that their deaths are not in vain. So that we stop normalizing the horror. So that we stop counting our dead as if they were numbers without names or history. Time to remember. Time to transform fury into action. Time to not let oblivion win again.
“May this time, at least this time, history not repeat itself in silence.”
